The next morning Vance got up slightly earlier than normal. He wanted to help Ricky out with feeding the animals. After seeing how much this man cared about him, he wanted to try to at least show Ricky that he was a good son so that the day he left, he would leave behind good memories for him. Vance did plan to come back to this village at some point because he wanted to bring Ricky and Maybel out of here. It was very clear that although Maybel was not his body's real mother, the women treated him as if she was. She cared deeply about Vance's health and was one of the main reasons why she was so willing to jump on him to keep him from hurting himself.
He crawled out of bed and walked outside, and stretched. The cool morning air was just crisp enough to give him some goosebumps as he looked around. He spotted Ricky already picking hay from the pile he had under a small overhang. Vance walked over and grabbed the pitchfork, and said: "Father, let me do this. Go have some breakfast."
Ricky looked at his son and smiled, and nodded: "Just put down ten wheel barrels full spread out."
"Alright. Go take a break." Vance took over the job Ricky was doing. He already saw how he was spreading the hay out and picking out some rotted-looking batches, so he did the same.
An hour later, Vance finished his work and stretched. It looked easy, but in fact, it was actually quite tiring to those not used to such work. Vance looked out over the pin that had the moogoons eating the hay and felt maybe this kind of life was not so bad. It was quite peaceful here. Of course, this was just a passing thought, but he wouldn't mind one day settling down in a place like this if he was indeed stuck in game.
Since he finished what he was doing, Vance walked back inside to see Ricky sipping on some coffee. When Ricky saw Vance, he stood up and walked over to him. "Follow me."
Vance nodded and followed Ricky outside where the two walked over to the back of the house. "What time do you plan to go to the Everlings?"
"Was thinking when the sun was half high in the sky." Meaning he planned to go around nine in the morning.
"Then we will go together. Help me out this morning to get my things done. I will then follow you over so the Everlings can't cause you too much trouble." Ricky had planned last night to go with Vance in the morning. So even if Vance did not help him, he still planned to go anyway.
"Alright." Vance did not reject. He had no issues helping Ricky out and was kind of relieved to have the support of this body's father behind him.
The two worked quickly and did many things throughout the morning. After a small break and a quick wash-up, the two left the house after telling Maybel where they were going. Maybel could only watch the two walking away with a worried expression on her face. She may not be the best wife in the world, but she still cared for her husband and stepson.
The Everling family lived near the center of the village. Ricky and Vance made their way toward the small farm catching quite a few eyes. In a small village such as this, word of mouth spread quickly, and the sight of Ricky walking toward the village center was not normal. So the other villagers were speculating about what was going to happen.
When they arrived at the wooden fence made of thing logs cut down from the nearby forest, Mr. Everling stopped what he was doing and wiped his sweat as he walked over. "Ricky, what can I do for you?"
"More like what you can do for my son. Vance, go ahead." Ricky patted Vance on the shoulder. He came here to be his son's support, so he would stand behind and only step forward when needed.
"Oh?" Mr. Everling turned and looked at Vance, who stepped forward and asked: "I came to talk with your sons. It is about the day I fell in the mountains."
Mr. Everling's expression quickly turned sour. He didn't even try to hide his mood. He snorted and asked: "What questioning is there to be asked? Didn't my boys bring you back when they found you in the mountains unconscious? Are you suspecting my sons of some kind of foul play?"
"Whether or not that is the case, we will find out when I talk to your two sons." Vance did not back down and looked Mr. Everling straight in the eye. In the culture of Alantina Online, staring an elder in the eye as Vance was doing could be considered deeply disrespectful.
Mr. Everling ignored Vance and looked at Ricky. "Is this how your son acts? How do you teach this boy of yours!?"
"Mr. Everling, my father, is not the one asking questions, so are you going to get them and bring them here, or do I need to drag them out? I am trying to be very civil in this case because something more happened than me just slipping off the cliff side." Vance did not give Ricky a chance to answer before stepping in front of his father. He raised his hand and created a fireball. Since it had no target, it just sat in the palm of his hand, spinning around. "I do not wish to make things difficult for you either. It would be a shame if my hand suddenly slipped."
Ricky's eyes opened wide and a proud smile formed on his lips. His boy had really grown up! He did not find his son's actions wrong at all. He found them the easiest way to settle things. It was not like they were here to harm anyone. And a little coercion did not hurt when the man in front of them was making things difficult for them.
"You!" Mr. Everling's expression sank, seeing the fireball in Vance's hands. He had no choice but to do as Vance asked and bring his boys out. Letting out a sigh, he snorted once more and said: "I will bring them here."
Vance put the fireball out and gave a nod. "Then we will wait here. Thank you for cooperating with us." Mr. Everling almost tripped when hearing Vance's words. But in front of a mage, he had no choice. Mages were not something he or anyone in the village could deal with!
Not long later, the Everling brothers both walked out, still half asleep. They were sturdy young men with short brown hair. Their stocky build made them look as strong as an ox, but in fact, they were both lazy and barely got any exercise unless forced to. "Father, why did you drag us out of bed!?"
"Shut up and look in front of you, and you will see why!" Mr. Everling yelled out. He was already angry that he had to even do any of this, but because Vance could use magic, he had no choice but to comply.
When the Everling brothers saw Vance, they both became pale. They knew that Vance probably knew something. But even if they wished to run away, they could not. They had no place to hide! This was their only sanctuary!
The bigger of the two brothers, Louis, stepped forward with a smile as he said: "Haha, Vance, long time no see…." He was trying to play it off as if nothing was wrong.
"I wouldn't know since I lost my memory, but I am here today to find something out from the two of you." Vance took out the green token he found and asked: "What happened on the mountain between me, you two, and the village chief's son David? And do not try to lie. Since I have this, I already know we all got into a fight."
"This…." Louis became tongue-tied. He turned and looked at his brother Jerry for help, but even his brother was pale in the face and unable to speak.
"Look, I am not here to cause trouble. Just tell me what we fought about. Was it because of the engagement I had with Stacy?" Vance asked. As soon as those words left his mouth, Louis lowered his head as if contemplating something before raising it again and dropping to his knees.
"Vance, look, we were blinded by money! David gave us each some silver to help him subdue you. We never thought he would pick such a place. He went on about how Stacy was not over you and would still reject his advances even though they were set to be engaged soon. We brothers are not too bright, so when he told us to attack, we attacked because he paid us…." Louis spilled the beans, saying it all out.
Mr. Everling's eyes opened wide. He had never heard any of this! He walked over, raised his fist, and punched his son in the face. "You damn idiot! Are you a bandit!? You beat someone for money!? How the hell did I raise you!?"
Mr. Everling, who had been unwilling to let them talk because he did not want his sons to be slandered for something they did not do, couldn't help but want to beat his good-for-nothing sons at this moment! They beat someone up and pushed them off the cliff for money! And for only a few silver! He looked at Ricky and bowed his head. He felt ashamed to have such sons! "Ricky, I am very sorry for this. I will beat the shit out of these two and drop them off at your house later. You are free to use them how you see fit. They will work for you for free for the next three years."
This was a kind of law within the village. When one does wrong, they go into servitude for a few years as punishment. Mr. Everling never thought his own sons, who were too stupid to count to ten even when using their own fingers, would need to be put into servitude like this. He now understood why Ricky allowed Vance to be so forceful earlier. He had good reason to!
"I do not need two idiots. Just teach your sons and put them to work yourself. We only came here to get the story. Even if they were involved, the most that could happen is they would be turned into slaves for a short period of time, and I, for one, do not want my farm ruined by them. So let's leave it at that now that we know who the real instigator is. But we would appreciate it if you and your sons could follow us to the village chief's house. David is the one who can not get away with what he has done."
"Understood. I will back you up on this." Mr. Everling was grateful that Ricky was not seeking to condemn his sons any further than this. He looked at his two idiot sons and yelled: "Both of you get off your ass and follow Ricky and Vance!"